LONDON, April 15: British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government was on Monday facing fresh claims of improper links to big business of the kind he had once vowed to stamp out.

Blair was voted into power in 1997 by a public weary of repeated scandals within the Conservative party. But critics, some from within the Labour Party itself, now accuse his government of being “for sale to the highest bidder”.

Confronted with questions about why two companies — both donors to Labour — had received special attention from a prime minister who has pledged to root out corruption, Blair’s spokesman was indignant.

“The world would be turned on its head if the Prime Minister did not go in to bat for one of the largest British manufacturers,” he insisted.

He was commenting on news that during a meeting with the Czech prime minister last week, Blair lobbied on behalf of a British firm bidding for a lucrative defence contract.

But the firm, BAE Systems, is a donor to Labour, and coming just hours after news of another big benefactor, PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, winning a 32 million pound government order for smallpox vaccines, it does not look good.

Unlike Labour governments of the past, Blair’s administration has been seen cosying up to business, prompting claim after claim of “cash for favours” deals between government and big spending captains of industry.

The accusation that Labour is “for sale” was launched by top union leader and traditional Labour supporter Bill Morris on Sunday, and echoed by The Sun and The Daily Mail tabloid newspapers on Monday.

Blair’s “New Labour” government prides itself on having shed its left-wing union links. But bit by bit, the prime minister’s fondness for rubbing shoulders with rich sympathisers is besmirching his pledge to be a “whiter than white” leader.

LABOUR FOR SALE?: Even in the first few months of his premiership, question marks were raised.